Pet Parents React To Pope's Remarks: Choosing Pets Over Kids is Selfish
A statement made by Pope Francis during a general audience at the Vatican is facing some backlash from pet owners: that couples who opt to have pets instead of children are being selfish.
"We see that people do not want to have children, or just one and no more. And many, many couples do not have children because they do not want to, or they have just one -- but they have two dogs, two cats ... Yes, dogs and cats take the place of children," the Pope Francis said.
"Yes, it's funny, I understand, but it is the reality. And this denial of fatherhood or motherhood diminishes us, it takes away our humanity. And in this way civilization becomes aged and without humanity, because it loses the richness of fatherhood and motherhood. And our homeland suffers, as it does not have children."
With plenty of pet owners happily referring to themselves as pet parents, it wasn't long before reactions from pet parents around the globe came pouring in:
Why is anyone listening to the Pope anyway? He’s a virgin who can’t drive.
— The Volatile Mermaid (@OhNoSheTwitnt) January 5, 2022
Pope Francis: Having pets instead of kids is selfish and will cause the downfall of civilization
— Karen Attiah (@KarenAttiah) January 6, 2022
Me: The Ancient Egyptians literally worshipped cats, but ok pic.twitter.com/bb0JGaswWg
This Doodle had a very salient point:
With all due respect to the pontiff...
— Nessa + Macie Doodle 🇨🇦 (@DoodleNessa) January 8, 2022
Answer me this: What is "dog" spelled backwards?#dogsoftwitter #Pope pic.twitter.com/fhBqLJ5VZK
And the piglet parents had something to say, too!
@Pontifex say it to his face pic.twitter.com/NkWWy89l2x
— i bless the rains down in castamere (@Chinchillazllla) January 5, 2022
You can almost hear the collective cracking of knuckles over keyboards:
Cat twitter getting mentally prepared to drag Pope Francis for saying people who choose pets over having kids are selfish. pic.twitter.com/AyqAlxpggp
— ClockOutWars (@clockoutwars) January 5, 2022
Others pointed out that some saintly predecessors may disagree:
Pope Francis: “We see that some people do not want to have a child. Sometimes they have one and that’s it, but they have dogs and cats that take the place of children. This may make people laugh but it is a reality.”
— Sophia Smith Galer (@sophiasgaler) January 5, 2022
Francis of Assisi: pic.twitter.com/uOLA82Zvwj
Pope Francis' namesake is Francis of Assisi, the patron saint of animals.
I’m not Catholic & I’m single with a cat, & because he was addressing couples without children, I’m not part of the group he was addressing, but it still makes me mad. For him to make a blanket statement like that just shows that he’s out of touch with most people in the world. Maybe people choose to not have children because they know that they’d pass on some genetic problem & don’t want their children to go through that. Mayne they know they wouldn’t be good parents for whatever reason & choose to not have children to make sure no child pays for what they think they might do or not do. Maybe having children would put a woman’s life at risk & she doesn’t want to go through that risk. Maybe people aren’t in a good financial situation to have children & they know this. Pets like cats & dogs & pigs are a lot cheaper to care for over time than children.
As many couples who choose not to have children as there are, there are that many reasons for them to not have children. No one should ever be called selfish for this, whether they have pets instead or not. Maybe some are being selfish, but who is the Pope to say this? It’s not for him or anyone else to say whether another person’s being selfish or not.
As much as this would anger a lot of Catholics for me to say this, the Pope is just a fallible, imperfect person like the rest of us. He doesn’t know another person’s true meaning or where their heart lies.
As for pet people being selfish, I don’t think most of us are. Most of us put our pets’ needs & wants ahead of our own, & that’s not selfishness. That’s love. 🤗😻
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